Being in the advantage slot play “business” for around a decade now I’ve heard just about everything you can think of when it comes to slot machines. I was playing two must hit by progressive recently. One went well, the other not so much. Slots or slot machines are coin-operated gaming machines that generate combinations of symbols at random on a dial. Certain combinations will produce a win and payout. Slot machines are known by different names across the globe, from fruit machines in. Apr 03, 2014  In this video, syndicated gaming writer, John Grochowski, discusses five important things every slot player should know. Topics covered include: you are bett. Each gaming jurisdiction requires all slot machines to be registered and all slot manufacturers must submit their programming and math charts to the state gaming office, such as the Nevada Gaming Control Board. While the state may only require a minimum payback of 86-percent, most video poker and slot machines pay more.

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  1. Jul 25, 2014  FWIW, most must hit machines that I have seen don't let you bet $0.01. They have the preset bet amounts like $0.35 or $0.40 as the min. At our local casino, Aristocrat games like 5 dragons for e.g. Has a 1 credit for just 1 line played on their 'mystery jackpot' or similar type of machines with capped progressives.
  2. A machine is never due to hit a jackpot. Each time you spin the reels at a slot machine you have the same chance of hitting any jackpot regardless of whether or not the machine has recently hit this jackpot. This means that a machine can go many days without a significant payout or could have two giant payouts in a row. Three-reel slot machines.

On This Page

Introduction

A must-hit-by jackpot, or mystery jackpot, is one that is guaranteed to hit by a certain point. So, there are two good things about a large jackpot:

  1. The jackpot itself is larger.
  2. The probability of winning it is greater.

As with any progressive game, at some point the jackpot becomes large enough to sway the odds in the player's favor. This page will examine these 'target points' on some new slots by Ainsworth with mystery jackpots. I also have a page on the same subject about WMS mystery progressive slots.


General Rules

Following are generally how must-hit-by progressives work.

  1. The jackpot starts at a defined minimum amount.
  2. A point at which the jackpot will hit is randomly chosen on a uniform distribution between the starting value and maximum possible jackpot.
  3. A certain percentage of money bet, known as the 'meter rise,' will be directed towards the jackpot.
  4. When the meter crosses the predestined win point, the player will be awarded the jackpot.

This is how the Ainsworth games appear to work. To be specific, the ones I played at the Red Rock casino have these specifications:

Ainsworth Red Rock Slots

JackpotMinorMajor
Starting point$20$350
Must hit by$50$400
Rate of increase (based on bet)0.45%0.20%

Please be advised that other Ainsworth games may have different criteria than the above. The tables on this page apply only to the type of games I played at the Red Rock casino on May 9, 2013.

This page assumes that a jackpot is equally likely to trigger anywhere between the starting value and must-hit-by maximum. This seems to be true for all makers except AGS. The reader should be warned that AGS must-hit-by jackpots almost never hit until they are near the must-hit-by point. For example, the large jackpots are supposed to hit by $5,000, but it is rumored in the advantage player slot community that they rarely hit below $4,990. So, please do not apply the information in this page to AGS machines.

progressive, or mystery jackpot, is one that is guaranteed to hit by a certain point.

Math

The general formula for the Target Point can be given as:

t = m × (h + r) / (h + 2r), where:
t = Target Point
m = Max jackpot
r = Rise of meter rate
h = House edge of game (taking into consideration the average value of the progressive)

An unknown piece to this equation is h, the house edge of the game. No casino is going to tell you exactly what a given slot machine is set to. So, you may have to resort to industry averages. The following table shows the averages for Clark County, Nevada (where Las Vegas is). You can see for penny slots, which must-hit-by jackpots tend to be on, the overall house edge is 10.77%.

Clark County Slot Win to 11/1/2017 to 10/31/2018

DenominationCasino Win (pct)
$0.019.97%
$0.055.54%
$0.257.11%
$1.006.34%
$5.005.51%
$25.004.99%
$100.006.22%
Megabucks12.34%
Multi-denomination5.26%
Total6.82%

Source: Nevada Gaming Control Board, Gaming Revenue Report for 12-month period ending October 31, 2018 (PDF, see page 4).

Although the information from 2001 is a bit dated, you may wish to also consider the returns of random games I sampled in my page on Slot Machine Odds in Las Vegas. All things considered, I think it is safe to assume a house edge of 8% to 12% in Las Vegas. The nicer the casino and closer to the Strip the casino is, the higher the house edge will generally be. Outside of Vegas, you're on your own.


Ainsworth Target Points

The first table shows the Target Point for the Major jackpot, according to the house edge on the game and the amount of the Minor jackpot. In most situations, it will need to be about $392.

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Ainsworth Major Jackpot Target Points

Minor
Jackpot
House Edge
14%12%10%8%6%
$25$395.51$394.94$394.20$393.22$391.84
$26$395.50$394.92$394.19$393.20$391.81
$27$395.49$394.91$394.17$393.18$391.77
$28$395.47$394.90$394.15$393.15$391.73
$29$395.46$394.88$394.13$393.12$391.69
$30$395.45$394.86$394.11$393.09$391.64
$31$395.43$394.84$394.08$393.05$391.59
$32$395.42$394.82$394.05$393.01$391.53
$33$395.40$394.80$394.02$392.97$391.47
$34$395.37$394.77$393.98$392.92$391.39
$35$395.35$394.74$393.94$392.86$391.30
$36$395.32$394.70$393.89$392.79$391.20
$37$395.29$394.66$393.83$392.71$391.08
$38$395.25$394.60$393.76$392.61$390.93
$39$395.20$394.54$393.68$392.49$390.76
$40$395.14$394.46$393.57$392.34$390.53
$41$395.06$394.37$393.44$392.16$390.24
$42$394.96$394.24$393.27$391.91$389.86
$43$394.83$394.07$393.03$391.57$389.31
$44$394.65$393.82$392.69$391.06$388.49
$45$394.37$393.44$392.16$390.24$387.10
$46$393.88$392.78$391.18$388.69$384.24
$47$392.86$391.30$388.89$384.62$375.00

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The second table shows the Target Point for the Minor jackpot, according to the house edge on the game and the amount of the Major jackpot. In most situations, it will need to be about $48.

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Ainsworth Minor Jackpot Target Points

Major
Jackpot
House Edge
14%12%10%8%6%
$350$48.68$48.51$48.28$47.97$47.53
$352$48.68$48.50$48.27$47.96$47.51
$354$48.67$48.50$48.26$47.95$47.49
$356$48.67$48.49$48.25$47.93$47.47
$358$48.66$48.48$48.24$47.92$47.44
$360$48.65$48.47$48.23$47.90$47.41
$362$48.64$48.46$48.21$47.88$47.38
$364$48.63$48.45$48.20$47.85$47.35
$366$48.62$48.43$48.18$47.83$47.30
$368$48.61$48.42$48.16$47.79$47.26
$370$48.60$48.40$48.13$47.76$47.20
$372$48.58$48.37$48.10$47.71$47.13
$374$48.56$48.35$48.06$47.66$47.05
$376$48.54$48.32$48.02$47.60$46.95
$378$48.51$48.28$47.97$47.52$46.81
$380$48.47$48.23$47.90$47.41$46.64
$382$48.42$48.16$47.81$47.27$46.40
$384$48.36$48.08$47.68$47.08$46.05
$386$48.27$47.95$47.50$46.78$45.49
$388$48.13$47.76$47.20$46.27$44.42
$390$47.90$47.41$46.64$45.21$41.67
$392$47.41$46.64$45.21$41.67

Example: You suspect the Minor jackpot may be high enough to play. The Major jackpot is at $370 and you assume a house edge of 10%. The table above shows the Target point is $48.13.

Jackpot!

In playing one of these games to determine the rate of increase I won a minor jackpot. I just had to take a couple pictures to share with you.


Further Reading

Quick Hits Slot Machine Tips

  • The Secret World of Video Poker Progressives, by Frank Kneeland
  • Million Dollar Slots by Peter Liston

Must Pay By Slot Machines

Written by: Michael Shackleford